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United States Patent6473609
Schwartz , ; et al.October 29, 2002
Title
Method and architecture for interactive two-way communication devices to interact with a network
Abstract
The present invention is particularly applicable to navigation of Internet by two-way interactive communication mobile devices that are capable of wireless communication via a link server with service providers or network servers on the Internet. Despite the limited computing resources in mobile devices that make it economically and technically impractical for the mobile devices to operate a local browser functioning as if it was in a desktop computer, the present invention allows the mobile devices to interact effectively with the Internet using a control engine operating in the link server and an interface engine operating in the mobile devices. The control engine, which utilizes the computing resources of the link server device, is responsible for tasks that require considerable computing power and memory, such as processing of URL requests, interpretation of markup language files, management of data cache and variable states. Further, working with a message processor in the server device, the control engine communicates with an interface engine using a compact data format that is efficiently transportable in the wireless data network. The interface engine typically performs tasks that do not require considerable computing power and memory, such as receiving input data from users, and the rendering of the compact data format received from the link server device, to cause the mobile device to display contents in the markup language files on a display screen.
Inventors:Schwartz; Bruce V. (San Mateo, CA), Greer; Russell S.  (Los Gatos, CA), Boyle; Stephen S.  (Fremont, CA), Fox; Mark A.  (San Mateo, CA), Rossmann; Alain S.  (Palo Alto, CA), Lentczner; Mark G.  (Mountain View, CA), Laursen; Andrew L.  (San Mateo, CA), Sandman; Brad E.  (Sunnyvale, CA)
Assignee:Openwave Systems Inc. (Redwood City, CA)
Appl. No.:153322
Filed:September 14, 1998
Current U.S. Class:455/406 455/408 455/414.2 455/422.1 455/426.1 455/550.1 455/403 
Field of Search:455/403,422,426,414,445,411,412,550,556,466,517,406,407,408 701/213
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Primary Examiner: Trost; William
Assistant Examiner: Ferguson; Keith
Attorney, Agent or Firm:Blakely, Sokoloff, Taylor & Zafman LLP
Parent Case Text


CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/570,210, now U.S. Pat. No.: 5,809,415, entitled "METHOD AND ARCHITECTURE FOR AN INTERACTIVE TWO-WAY DATA COMMUNICATION NETWORK" by Alain Rossmann, one of the co-inventors hereof.
Claims

What is claimed is:
1. A method for an interactive two-way communication mobile device of a wireless network to interact with a network server, the mobile device having a display screen, the method comprising: initiating a control engine in a link server device coupled to a landnet after the mobile device establishes a communication session with the link server device over the wireless network, through a pair of first and second protocol interfaces, the first protocol interface residing in the mobile device and the second protocol interface residing in the link server device, the link server device comprising: an account manager managing a user account of the mobile device; and a message processor receiving a message from the network server over the landnet; associating the control engine with an interface engine operating in the mobile device corresponding to the user account, and converting the message by the message processor to a compact data file that can be efficiently transportable in the wireless network, including substituting a uniform resource identifier in the message with a corresponding address identifier while maintaining the uniform resource identifier in the link server device.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the message received from the network server represents a World Wide Web page.

3. The method as recited in claim 2, the method further comprising forwarding device characteristics information of the display screen from the mobile device to the link server device over the wireless network.

4. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein the compact data file is screen description data that can be directly rendered by the interface engine in the mobile device.

5. The method as recited in claim 4; wherein the message comprises a device identifier identifying the mobile device.

6. The method as recited in claim 4; the method further comprising buffering the message in a cache memory in reference to the user account of the mobile device in the link server device.

7. The method as recited in claim 6; wherein said converting the message by the message processor to a compact data file comprises converting the message to the screen description data corresponding to the device characteristics information received from the mobile device.

8. The method as recited in claim 7; the method further comprising causing the display screen by the interface engine, upon receiving the screen description data, to display the contents in the message from the network server according to the screen description data from the link server device.

9. The method as recited in claim 8, the method still further comprising: navigating in the contents being displayed on the display screen of the mobile device; generating a client request by a client module in the mobile device; and sending the client request to the link server device over the wireless network; and forwarding the client request to the network server over the landnet.

10. The method as recited in claim 9, wherein said generating a client request comprising making a selection in the contents by activating a predefined key.

11. The method as recited in claim 9, wherein said generating a client request comprising receiving inputs from a user by using an limited input interface of the mobile device.

12. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein the limited input interface comprises a phone keypad equipped in the mobile device.

13. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein the limited input interface comprises a number of soft keys displayed on the display screen of the mobile device.

14. The method as recited in claim 6; wherein said converting the message by the message processor to a compact data file comprises: generating the screen description data from the message with the corresponding address identifier.

15. The method as recited in claim 14; wherein said substituting the uniform resource identifier comprises storing the uniform resource identifier in an address table managed by the account manager in the link server device.

16. The method as recited in claim 15; the method further comprising causing the interface engine, upon receiving the screen description data, to display on the display screen contents in the message from the network server according to the screen description data from the link server device.

17. The method as recited in claim 16, the method still further comprising: navigating in the contents being displayed on the display screen of the mobile device; generating a client request by a client module in the mobile device; and sending the client request to the link server device over the wireless network.

18. The method as recited in claim 17, wherein said generating a client request comprises: making a selection in the contents by activating a predefined key, the selection linking to the address identifier; and forwarding the client request to the network server over the landnet.

19. The method as recited in claim 18; further comprising: looking up the address table for the address identifier; replacing the address identifier with the uniform resource identifier from the address table; forming a new client request in the link server device; and sending the new client request to the network server over the landnet.

20. The method as recited in claim 17; wherein said generating a client request comprises receiving inputs from a user using a phone keypad of the mobile device.

21. The method as recited in claim 20; the method still further comprising: substituting variables in the message with the inputs in the link server device to produce an updated message; converting the updated message to an updated screen description data corresponding to the device characteristics information received from the mobile device; and sending the updated screen description data to the mobile device over the wireless network.

22. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the message received from the network server is a markup language file.

23. The method as recited in claim 22, wherein the markup language is selected from a group consisting of Handheld Device Markup Language (HDML), HyperText Markup Language (HTML), Wireless Markup Language (WML), Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) and Extensible Markup Language (XML).

24. The method as recited in claim 1; wherein the message received from the network server is a notification comprising a device identifier identifying the mobile device by the account manager and a universal resource identifier identifying a service web site.

25. The method as recited in claim 24; wherein said converting the message by the message processor to a compact data file comprises: looking up in a notification list managed by the account manager for an entry substantially equivalent to the received notification in the link server device; updating the notification list with the received notification; substituting the uniform resource identifier with a corresponding address identifier; storing the uniform resource identifier and the corresponding address identifier in an address table managed by the account manager in the link server device; and converting the notification with the uniform resource identifier substituted by the address identifier to the compact data file.

26. The method as recited in claim 25; wherein said updating the notification list comprises: replacing an entry with the received notification if the entry is identical to the received notification in the notification list; and inserting the received notification into the notification list if there are no entries that are identical to the received notification in the notification list;
wherein the inserted received notification is sequenced in the notification list.

27. The method as recited in claim 26; the method further comprising: processing a client request by the control engine to form an updated client request in the link server device upon receiving the client request from the mobile device that responds to the received notification from the link server device; and forwarding the updated client request to the network server.

28. The method as recited in claim 27; wherein said processing a client request by the control engine comprises: retrieving the uniform resource identifier from the address table with respect to the corresponding address identifier; and generating the updated client request with the uniform resource identifier therein.

29. A method for an interactive two-way communication mobile device of a wireless network to interact with a network server, the mobile device having a display screen, the method comprising: establishing a communication session between the mobile device and a link server device over the wireless network through a pair of first and second protocol interfaces, the first protocol interface residing in the mobile device and the second protocol interface residing in the link server device, the link server device coupled to the network server through a landnet, so that the mobile device interacts with the network server via the link server device: associating an interface engine operating in the mobile device with a control engine operating in the link server device with respect to an account established for the mobile device in the link server device; receiving a compact data file generated in the link server device over the wireless network, the compact data file having been generated by the link server device by substituting a uniform resource identifier in the message with a corresponding address identifier while maintaining the uniform resource identifier in the link server device; and rendering the compact data file by the interface engine to display contents of the compact data file.

30. The method as recited in claim 29, wherein said establishing a communication session comprises forwarding device characteristics information of the display screen of the mobile device to the link server device over the wireless network.

31. The method as recited in claim 30, wherein the compact data file is screen description data converted by a message processor in the link server device from a message received from the network server, the message representing a World Wide Web page.

32. The method as recited in claim 31, wherein the World Wide Web page is represented in a markup language.

33. The method as recited in claim 32, wherein the markup language is selected from a group consisting of Handheld Device Markup Language (HDML), HyperText Markup Language (HTML), Wireless Markup Language (WML), Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) and Extensible Markup Language (XML).

34. The method as recited in claim 31, wherein the message processor determines whether there are uniform resource identifiers in the message.

35. The method as recited in claim 34, wherein the message processor substitutes the uniform resource identifiers with respective address identifiers if there are uniform resource identifiers in the message; the uniform resource identifiers associated respectively with the address identifiers maintained in an address table in the link server device.

36. The method as recited in claim 35, wherein the screen description data comprises the address identifiers.

37. The method as recited in claim 36, the method further comprising: navigating in the contents being displayed on the display screen of the mobile device; generating a client request by a client module in the mobile device; the client request comprising one of the address identifiers; and sending the client request to the link server device over the wireless network.

38. The method as recited in claim 37, wherein said generating a client request comprises: making a selection in the contents by activating a predefined key on the mobile device.

39. The method as recited in claim 38, wherein the predefined key is in a phone keypad equipped in the mobile device.

40. The method as recited in claim 38, wherein the predefined key is a soft key display in the screen display of the mobile device.

41. The method as recited in claim 37, wherein the control engine in the link server device retrieves one of the uniform resource identifiers from the address table with respect to the one of the address identifiers in the received client request and generates an updated client request with the one of the uniform resource identifiers therein, the updated client request subsequently forwarded to the network server.

42. The method as recited in claim 31, wherein the message processor interprets the message to generate the screen description data according to the device characteristics information.

43. The method as recited in claim 29, wherein the compact data file is an updated notification processed in the link server device from the notification received from the network server, the notification comprising an alert type and a uniform resource identifier.

44. The method as recited in claim 43, wherein the updated notification comprises an address identifier corresponding to the uniform resource identifier in the notification, the uniform resource identifier associated with the address identifier maintained in an address table in the link server device.

45. The method as recited in claim 44, the method further comprising notifying the user of the updated notification according to the alert type when the mobile device receives the updated notification.

46. The method as recited in claim 44, the method further comprising updating an alert list with the received updated notification in the mobile device.

47. The method as recited in claim 46, wherein said updating an alert list comprises: replacing an entry with the received updated notification if the entry is identical to the received updated notification in the alert list; and inserting the received updated notification into the alert list if there are no any entries identical to the received updated notification in the alert list;
wherein the inserted received updated notification is sequenced in the alert list.

48. The method as recited in claim 29, wherein the compact data file is a service request comprising a special identifier before an address, the address identifying a local service offered in the mobile device.

49. The method as recited in claim 48, the method further comprising: invoking the local service in the mobile device upon receiving the service request from the link server device; sending a client request to the link server device over the wireless network in response to the local service; and receiving screen description data generated in the link server device with respect to the client request.
Description
AUTHORIZATION WITH RESPECT TO COPYRIGHTS

A portion of the present disclosure contains material subject to copyright protection. Such material includes, but is not limited to, an Appendix entitled "Imp Specification protocols between Femto Engine and Terminal". The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to data communications, and in particular to interactive two-way communication mobile devices that permit a user to interact with a network server providing hypermedia information through a data network. Such a data network can include, for example, the Internet and a wireless network. The mobile devices may include cellular telephones, two-way pagers, or a palm-sized computing devices and typically have limited computing resources.

2. Description of the Related Art

The Internet is a rapidly growing communication network of interconnected computers and computer networks around the world. Together, these connected computers form a vast repository of multimedia information that is readily accessible by the connected computers from anywhere at any time. To navigate a portion of the Internet organized as the "World Wide Web", the connected computers, e.g., workstations and desktop computers, typically operate a user interface called a "browser". A browser is a client application program that generally requests multimedia information throughout the Internet using, typically, the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). A computer which operates a browser using HTTP is generally a relatively powerful computer with sufficient computing resources, such as processing power, memory, a display capability and a user interface.

To provide mobility and portability of access to the Internet, interactive two-way communication mobile devices capable of communicating, via wireless data networks, with the Internet have been introduced. The interactive two-way communication mobile devices (e.g., two-way pagers, cellular phones, palm-sized computing devices and personal digital assistants (PDAs)) are among the fastest emerging communication devices. These devices enable users to receive, collect, analyze, review and disseminate information as the users travel or move about. Unlike computers coupled to the Internet, the mobile devices are characterized by severe limitations in computing resources. For example, a cellular phone has less than one percent processing power of a typical desktop personal computer, generally less than 128 kilobytes of memory, an LCD display which is perhaps four lines high by twelve or twenty characters, and limited or non-existent graphics capabilities. Further, a cellular phone inputs using a keypad that has far fewer keys than a typical personal computer (PC) keyboard. With these constraints, a mobile device cannot efficiently operate the browser used by desktop computers to navigate the Internet.

To make available to mobile devices computing resources comparable to a desktop computer is too costly. There is, therefore, a great need for a solution that enables mobile devices to freely access information on the Internet without providing these computing resources in the mobile devices.

Additionally, mobile devices are typically serviced through one or more wireless service carriers. The wireless service carriers often provide additional services by upgrading client application programs in the mobile devices. In conventional computers, an upgrade can be accomplished by downloading a new version of an application program from a service provider. In mobile devices, downloading a new version of an application program can be a prohibitive task, limited by the performances of the computing resources and the wireless network. Hence, there is a further need for an ability to manage client application programs operated by the mobile devices.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention addresses the above described problems and is particularly applicable to navigation of Internet web pages by two-way interactive communication mobile devices (e.g., mobile computing devices, cellular phones, palm-sized computer devices, personal digital assistant devices and Internet-capable appliance remote controllers) which are capable of wireless communication via a link server with service providers or network servers on the Internet. Despite the common deficiencies of mobile devices (i.e., a primitive processor, little memory and limited graphics capability) which make it economically and technically impractical for the mobile devices to operate a local browser functioning as if it was in a desktop computer, the present invention allows the mobile devices to interact effectively with the Internet and can be used with a wide variety of wireless communication networks (e.g., cellular digital packet data (CDPD) network, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) network and Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) network).

According to one aspect of the present invention, a mobile device includes an interface engine that, via a client module, communicates and operates with a control engine in a link server device over a wireless network. The control engine, which utilizes the computing resources of the link server device, is responsible for tasks that require considerable computing power and memory, such as processing of URL requests, interpretation of markup language files, management of data cache and variable states. Further, working with a message processor in the server device, the control engine communicates with an interface engine using a compact data format that is efficiently transportable in the wireless data network. The interface engine typically performs tasks that do not require considerable computing power and memory, such as receiving input data from users, and the rendering of the compact data format received from the link server device, to cause the mobile device to display contents in the markup language files on a display screen.

According to another aspect of the present invention, incoming messages to the mobile device, including notification and requests, and which typically has one or more universal resource identifiers or locators, are processed in the link server device to generate compact messages. The link server device replaces universal resource locators in the incoming message with address identifiers, and manages an address table mapping each universal resource locator with an address identifier. Thus processed, the resulting compact messages demand less bandwidth of the wireless network, thus reducing high latency and requiring less air time.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, local service requests in the mobile device are processed simultaneously in the interface engine and the control engine. In the prior art, all local service requests are processed locally at the terminal where the local services are requested. The computing devices of the prior art, such as personal computers and workstations, can process local requests because of their computing power, memory and display capabilities. The mobile devices in the present invention, however, taking advantage of a cooperation between the interface engine and the control engine over the wireless network, services the requests with the limited computing resources of the mobile devices and without significantly compromising overall performance.

Thus, unlike the closed and proprietary prior art mobile devices (e.g., mobile phones and two-way pagers), the present invention allows thinly designed mobile devices to become open application platforms. Such an open application platform allows software developers to develop value-added applications and services to these thinly designed mobile devices. Consequently, many more new uses can be developed for two-way communication mobile devices and two-way communication networks, including wireless networks, without physical modification or addition to the two-way communication mobile device.

The present invention can be implemented in numerous ways. For example, according to one embodiment of this invention, a method of the present invention allows an interactive two-way communication mobile device with a display screen to interact with a network server. In this method, a control engine in a link server is initiated when the mobile device establishes a communication session with the link server. (Such a link server couples the network server of a landnet, which uses a first communication protocol, to a wireless network which uses a second communication protocol.) The link server includes: (a) an account manager managing a user account associated with the mobile device; and (b) a message processor receiving a message from the network server over the landnet. Upon initiation, the control engine communicates with an interface engine of the mobile device corresponding to the user account, and converts the message, using the message processor, to a compact data file that can be efficiently transportable in the wireless network.

According to another embodiment of this invention, in a method of the present invention, the link server sends over the wireless network a compact data file it generates, and the interface engine renders the compact data file to cause the display screen to display contents represented by the compact data file.

According to still another embodiment of this invention, a system of the present invention includes: (a) a memory for storing code for a server module; (b) a data storage device for maintaining a user account for the mobile device; and (c) a processor coupled to the memory and the data storage device. The processor executes the code in the memory to cause the server module to: (a) execute a control engine associated with an interface engine of a mobile device; (b) receive a network message from the network server over the landnet, using a first communication protocol; (c) buffer the network message in a cache memory; (d) generate a compact message from the network message; and (e) send the compact message to the mobile device over the wireless network, using a second communication protocol.

According to still another embodiment of this invention, a system of the present invention includes: (a) a display screen; (b) an input means; (c) a memory for storing code for a client module; and (d) a processor coupled to the memory and controlling the display screen and the input means. The processor executes code in the memory to cause the client module to: (a) execute an interface engine when activating a predefined key; (b) maintain the interface engine to work with a control engine operating in the link server device in concert; (c) receive a compact message from the link server device over a wireless network, wherein the compact message is generated by a message processor in the link server device according to a network message received from the network server over a landnet; and (d) render the compact message to cause the display screen to display contents in the network message.

Accordingly, one of the objects of this invention is to provide a generic solution to two-way communication mobile devices with limited computing resources to enable them to effectively interact with a landnet such as the Internet.

Other objects, together with the foregoing are attained in the exercise of the invention in the following description and resulting in the embodiment illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be readily understood by the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate like structural elements, and in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic configuration in which the present invention may be practiced;

FIG. 2A depicts a block diagram of a typical GSM digital cellular phone that can be used in the data network of FIG. 1 to practice the present invention;

FIG. 2B illustrates an internal functional block diagram of an exemplary digital cellular phone that may corresponds to the GSM digital cellular phone of FIG. 2A;

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate functional block diagrams of a link server device and a mobile device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 depicts an account structure used in the description of the present invention;

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate respectively two exemplary screen displays on a display screen of a mobile device;

FIG. 6 demonstrates an overview of a systematic configuration according to the present invention;

FIGS. 7A to 7G illustrate a series of screen displays to illustrate the navigation of the Internet through a mobile device according to the present invention;

FIG. 8A demonstrates an address table per device to send an address identifier to an actual IP address over a wireless network;

FIG. 8B demonstrates an address table managed by an account manager to maintain groups of address identifiers in a link server for all the mobile devices in communication with the link server; and

FIGS. 9A and 9G illustrate a process flowchart of the present invention according to one embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to the drawings, in which like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views. FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic configuration in which the present invention may be practiced. As shown in FIG. 1, landnet 100 is a land-based network that may be the Internet, an Intranet or a data network of any private network. Coupled to landnet 100 are a personal computer (PC) 110 and a network server 104. Personal computer 110 may be a Pentium II-based desktop personal computer. Preferably, personal computer 110 runs a HyperText Markup Language (HTML) browser, such as Netscape Navigator from Netscape Communications Corporation (http://www.netscape.com), via landnet 100 using HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) to access information stored in network server 104, which may be a workstation from SUN Microsystems Inc (http://www.sun.com/). The information stored in network server 104 may be hypermedia information including mobile data designed for mobile devices.

There are n mobile devices 106 serviced by airnet 102. Mobile devices 106 are interactive two-way communication devices (e.g., mobile computing devices, cellular phones, palm-sized computing devices with PDA (Personal Data Assistants) functionality and Internet-capable appliance remote controllers) which are capable of communicating wirelessly with antenna 108 via airnet 102. As shown, antenna 108 also represents a wireless carrier infrastructure that generally includes a base station and an operations and maintenance center. The base station controls radio or telecommunication links with mobile devices 106. The operations and maintenance center comprises a mobile switching center performing the switching of calls between the mobile devices and other fixed or mobile network users. Further the operations and maintenance center manages mobile account services, such as authentication, and oversees the proper operation and setup of the wireless network. Each of the hardware components and processes in carrier infrastructure 108 are known to those skilled in the art and thus are not described here to avoid unnecessarily obscuring aspects of the present invention.

Between landnet 100 and airnet 102 there is a link server device 114 functioning as a bridge between the two networks 100 and 102. Link server device 114, which is also referred to as proxy server or wireless data server or network gateway server, may be a workstation or a personal computer. Link server 114, which is loaded with many processes including compiled and linked versions implementing the present invention, couples airnet 102 to landnet 100 and performs many functions as described in more detail below. One of the functions that link server 114 performs is to facilitate the communication of mobile devices 106 with any of the devices coupled to landnet 100, including mapping or translating from one communication protocol in landnet 100 to another in airnet 102 or vice versa.

To facilitate the description of the present invention, FIG. 2A depicts a typical GSM digital cellular phone 200 that can be used as one of the mobile devices 106 in the arrangement of FIG. 1 to practice the present invention. Cellular phone 200
includes a small screen 202 and an extended phone keypad 204. Screen 202 is typically a LCD display capable of displaying perhaps four lines high by twelve or twenty characters with limited graphics capabilities. Extended phone keypad 204 includes, preferably, a regular phone keypad 206, a pair of generic keys 208 and 210 and positioning key 212. Generic keys 208 and 210 are used to activate soft keys displayed in screen 202 and positioning key 212 is to reposition an element indicator or a cursor to activate, for example, one of the hyperlinks displayed in screen 202. Generic keys 208 and 210 and positioning key 212 are not necessary in practicing the present invention. These keys can be replaced by a set of designated
 
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